The Barn Raising
by andreamama
Summary: Seven one shots at the Barn Raising.
1. The Barn Raising

**Credit to Countrylover99 for character names that aren't identified in the film ;) Thanks, buddy!**

It was finally here!

Today was the day of the barn raising and the picnic, no one was more excited than the brightly dressed cluster of girls surrounding the long wooden tables. They greeted each other with warm hugs, kisses on rosy cheeks and compliments on each other's picnic dresses. This rare community event gave them the chance to socialize, enjoy some dancing and step away from their chores for a few hours. These girls had only just seen each other days before but that never stopped them from delighting in each other's company. Female friends were hard to come by in newly settled Oregon territory. This was wild country that was best braved and tamed by menfolk; ranchers, trappers, trackers and farmers. These girls stayed close to each other, living daily life together in their small town.

Lands, they were a pretty bunch to behold! Tall, Juno-esque Dorcas Gailen glided over the group in lavender gingham and a white straw trimmed with matching ribbons trailing down her long raven hair. There was cheery, smiling Ruth Jebson with blonde curls, excitedly twirling the blue skirt of her dress. Proper, prim and proud Martha Hallum in sensible mint green cotton made sure to keep her cool in the warm August sunshine while her bright brunette friend Liza May in pink check was buzzing around the girls with open arms. Sweet Alice Elcott, the picture of a pastor's daughter, just giggled away with her girlfriends from under her pink bonnet. And shy Sarah Kine smiled graciously as she listened to her friends compliment her on her new style daffodil yellow pinafore dress- simply darling! She humbly thanked them and made the most of their sweet greetings and jokes before the inevitable arrival of Carl and the local group of young men. These suitors would swarm in on them like a pack of wasps then lavish them with overdressed compliments, take their arms and not let go for the entire day.

This small town was growing; families and businesses were arriving gradually from the East for adventure and new starts. At present there were still ten men for every young woman in town. These girls knew all the young men in the area and these fellows were constantly attempting to stake their claim upon them. Some had good hearts, some did not. Regardless, it was good manners and custom to receive them with grace. Love was not really a priority in marriage in this town. This good land needed to be settled, their fathers said; no girl had a right to stay single. It seemed that some days they were drowning in the rigors of courtship. They clung to one another's friendship as a chance to breathe and to feel as if they were not just a prospective wife to someone.

It was very apparent among them that someone was missing from their company - their lovely friend Milly. Oh, how they missed Milly! Milly was a kind, sweet and hard working young woman. Having lost her parents Milly, had to look after herself and found work in one of the town's eating houses where she became renowned as a great cook. Lots of the young single men arriving in town sought her out as a wife but Milly always had held off for some reason. A few months back, she had caused quite a stir amongst the town. She up and married the infamous Adam Pontipee, after knowing him for less than a few hours! She had left the town in such hurry, she didn't even say good bye to her friends. Alice was the last of the girls to see her as Milly had been married by her pa (quite reluctantly) in her own parlour. Alice told the girls all about what had happened at the quilting bee back in June. "Oh, girls! It was just so wonderful! Love at first sight! Milly was so happy and _that_ Adam Pontipee..." Alice trailed off and blushed, "...well, he looked quite happy, too."  
Sarah, Ruth and Liza gasped in disbelief when they heard the news, they recalled seeing that giant red headed mountain man that very morning at the general store. He was handsome, that's for sure. But goodness, he was arrogant. Who in their right mind swoops into town and thinks they can catch a bride up in one afternoon? They swapped stories of what the other folk in town had said about those Pontipee men, apparently there were seven of them up at that mountain farm, and that they were a wild, slovenly lot. The Pontipees had rarely come into town, so the girls didn't know what kind of men they actually were. But by the way Adam looked, bearded and dressed in rough buckskins, they could only imagine what Millie would have to face and prayed for her safety.

The young men of the town began to arrive at the picnic, sporting their civilized grey and beige waistcoats and tipping their stetsons to all the party goers. Within moments they had flocked to the sides of the six friends; the ladies welcomed them gingerly and indulged the fellows with polite chatting, attentive listening and smiling. The pleasant meeting was soon interrupted by a clatter of horseshoes and creaking wagon wheels rolled in at the distance, bringing with it mysterious cargo decked in rainbow coloured shirts.

 **More to come, thanks for reading! I would love to hear your feedback!**


	2. Benjamin & Dorcas

Benjamin felt like he would fall out of the wagon when it came to a stop, he was shaking so much. He took a deep breath then puffed out his chest, like he had seen Adam done many a time. He tried to hide his nerves as five or six girls swarmed up to the wagon to greet Millie. They certainly knew her, all gushing at once about how long it had been since they saw her and how much they missed her. One of them caught his eye, she energetically pulled herself up on the side of the wagon to get closer to Millie. Her long dark hair fell down her back to a tiny waist, Ben couldn't help himself but look all the way down, then back up again to her face. She was a tall one, like him, but she the prettiest thing he had ever laid eyes on. I gotta talk to this one, he thought and shoved his way closer to the back of the wagon to get off. Millie had been baking a up a feast of victuals to share with the townsfolk, and the dark haired girl volunteered to bring some over to the tables. "Oh, we'll bring them over!"

 _Now_ , thought Ben. "I'd be pleasured if you allowed me." he held out his arm for her, just like Millie had shown them and waited anxiously for her to take it.

"Why, thanks!" the girl smiled. She reached out and took his arm with hers. Ben felt the perspiration on his skin rise under his shirt as he looked into the girl's eyes. He couldn't think of anything else to say then, so he figured smiling was good enough for then until he could think of something, _anything_ else.

The girl could tell he was out of steam already. She had seen this plenty of times when men tried to speak to her. She liked to tease them, and see how far they could get before they retreated to get a drink and try their luck again. They would try their hand at nervous flattery, then she would throw them a flirtatious comment or glance and that would be then end of it. She quite enjoyed winding them up and watching them sweat, serves them right for just thinking she was just another girl to tack down. It was a fun game to play for this girl, she was yet to meet her match. The other girls thought her positively wicked for treating them this way, but she had to amuse herself somehow.

"This table is where we are setting everything up, mister...?" she looked at him and tucked her chin in slightly, as she asked as she widened her eyes to a doe-like expression.  
"Uh, Benjamin. Benjamin Pontipee." he replied and placed the bread down on the tables that had been set up for the occasion.

"Thank you, Mr. Pontipee, I-"  
"Uh, Ben." He interrupted her, "Ben is just fine." Could she sense how nervous he was?

Half a smile curled up at the side of her mouth. "Well, thank you _Ben._ "  
The two beamed at each other, and spoke nothing for a moment before Ben remembered his manners.  
"Oh, I, uh, beg your pardon. I didn't ask your name".  
The girl chuckled, "My name is Dorcas Gailen." She drew closer to him and purred,"But you can call me Dorcas."

 _Dorcas._ That was real pretty sounding. He looked at her again and took in the way she held herself, so confident. She was making him nervous and she knew it. She had seen that look exchanged between Adam and Millie, mostly in the evenings before everyone went off to sleep. Well, if Ben was going to be man of his own house one day with a wife of his own, he had to start taking charge.

He looked around to avoid her gaze and to take a breath. He reset himself, and decided that this Dorcas girl was not going to get away.  
He cleared his throat. "This is a mighty fine day." he commented bluntly.  
"It certainly is." she replied, "Mr, -"  
"Please, Ben." he said firmly, with a raise of his eyebrows. There was something there now that made Dorcas know that this one would be harder to crack then most.  
She tried again. "I am sorry, _Ben_." She lowered her voice. "Can I ask you a question?"  
"Sure! Ask whatever you like."  
"Is this your first social occasion? You seem a little distracted." she said slowly, hoping this time he might just break. To her surprise, he moved in closer, almost touching her arm, looked her square in the eyes and grinned.  
"That's right, I am distracted."  
She understood. She blushed and gazed towards the grass near her feet. She could feel her heart beating a little quicker, as if to say that this Ben wasn't going to go anywhere and that she definitely wanted it that way. She glanced back up to admire the angle of his jaw and the way he looked at her.

The air between them was quickly sliced by the rapid clatter of hammers on anvil.  
"C'mon everybody there's going to be dancin'!"

Ben reached out and gently took her hand.


	3. Caleb & Ruth

"Seven of them!" exclaimed young Ruth as she saw a wagon load of handsome strangers roll into the picnic. The girls around her were just as curious to know who these fellows were and when Alice noticed that Millie was sitting at the head of the wagon, it seemed the perfect opportunity to tear themselves away from their escorts to greet their greatly missed friend. Ruth also was keen to see these rumored mountain men up close, so smoothing her bodice down she fluttered off with the others.

Like the girls around her, Ruth found it hard not to beam with happiness to see Millie and gush about how long it had been since they had seen her. Acting as subtly as she could, she swiftly captured a small glance at the seven bodies a top the wagon – they were all smiles and wide eyes, peering down at Ruth's friends. Quite handsome, the lot of them! One by one, these folk jumped down over the side to assist the girls with Millie's delicious offerings for the collation and escorting them back over to the tables. They seemed so gentlemanly; not at all what was rumored about town when folks gossiped about the mysterious Pontipees from up in the mountains.

At last, Ruth was able to get closer to Millie so she could be of use and take a plate over. The giant Pontipee who Ruth had recognized from town reached down to offer her a plum cake but before she could take it one of the brothers had jumped off the wagon and landed in front of her, as quick as a bolt. He was tall and lithe looking but she could see the outlines of strong shoulders under his very tidy yellow and brown check shirt. Most of the men in town were clean shaven but this fellow had a well-shaped, dashing moustache and beard, almost like an etching of a knight in the pages of a story book. Ruth considered him very striking and handsome. He smiled warmly as his eyes met hers while plucking the plate from the eldest brother. Ruth couldn't help but smile back.  
"If you'll just follow me," she asked, still taken aback from this man's gallant maneuvered.  
"To the ends of the earth," he cooed and offered her his arm.

Right then and there, Ruth Jebson's heart melted.

Millie stifled a triumphant smile in front of her husband – she had gone and done it and transformed her slummocky lot of brothers-in-law into fine gentleman. She had no doubts that Caleb was capable of being the perfect gentleman, he was so eager to learn how to be refined in the hopes of courting a girl and kept practicing his manners at the dinner table while helping himself to seconds of any treats Millie had made for supper. Millie knew he had it in him but this little scene that just played out had exceeded any hope she had. Ruth was going to be a great match for Caleb, both were chatty and jolly. Ruth was sunny gal with romance always on the mind when not thinking up sweet things to create. Truth be told, Ruth and Millie had always had a friendly competition between them as to who was the best cook, they were always teasing one another about in an affable manner but always in the spirit of encouraging each other. It was a special joke between the two friends and both were great cooks that many fellows in town wanted as a wife. Like the saying goes, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, and Millie knew that as soon as Caleb tasted one of Ruth's famous picnic pies there would be wedding bells before too long.

Caleb had never seen such a pretty face before. While he had always thought Millie was a pretty gal, Ruth was a right angel. He had spied her from above in the wagon and felt his heart skip a beat. But now there was something buzzing between them to be certain as he couldn't look away from her smile or resist smiling back as they walked over to the picnic tables. Ruth did not even see the table as she crashed her hip right into it and was rudely brought back to reality.  
"Lands, are you hurt now?" Caleb asked as he gently supported the small of her back with one hand slid the cake onto the table with the other.  
"Oh, goodness! I'm fine, just a shock." She steadied herself. "Thank you, Mr.-"  
"Caleb, ma'am," he replied. "Caleb Pontipee." He pretended to busy himself trying to settle and steady the girl as a rouse behind getting physically closer to her.  
"You're very kind!" she smiled at him.  
"I'm at your service if you care to break your leg, too!" he joked.  
She giggled sweetly.  
"But, I promise no harm will come to you while I'm near you," he said with a nod. He meant it; he was now set on courting this gal.  
"I'm terribly sorry, I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Ruth Jebson."  
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Jebson."  
"I'd be delighted if you'd call me Ruth, seeing as you're Millie's family. We just adore her!"  
"So do us brothers! She's just been a real help up at our farm, a great cook too. The best we ever ate!"  
"Oh, is she just?" giggled Ruth again, "Well, let's just see who the best cook is." She searched the table for her latest creation – apple and rhubarb pie. She found a knife, a small plate and cut into the golden crust that was decorated with pastry hearts. The sweet, warm fragrance of the fruit wafted towards Caleb's nose and he breathed it in, his mouth began to water for the buttery pastry.  
Ruth offered him a slice to test. "You're the first person to try my new recipe. Tell me what you think!" she said excitedly.  
Caleb bit into the sweet crust and tasted warm nutmeg and cinnamon. The next bite refreshed his palate with the crisp texture of apple and tangy rhubarb. He closed his eyes – never had he tasted anything as good as this before in his life.

Right then and there, Caleb's heart melted.

He opened his eyes to the beaming blonde girl in front of him who seemed ten times prettier than a moment ago. He pretended to swoon, which delighted the girl immensely and she clapped her hands together and laughed again. "Miss Ruth, I can honestly say that you are a better cook than Millie," He grinned, drew closer to her and whispered "But don't tell her I said that."  
She smiled, even more smitten.  
"Would you be kind enough to introduce me to your folks?" Caleb asked as took her arm again and led her over to where his brothers were congregating with Ruth's friends.  
"It's just me and my uncle in town," she said with a half –smile. "I'd love you to meet him."  
"That would be an honour,"replied Caleb. He gently took her hand but both soon came to a standstill as they heard the rapid clatter of hammers on anvil.  
"C'mon, everybody! There's going to be dancin'!"

 **Thanks for being so patient, everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please let me know what you think!**


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